The Done Thing

The man who changed your life sits on death row and is about to be executed. He has refused all contact with you for decades. You have very little time in which to contact him before he's gone forever. What would you do to accomplish that? What wouldn't you do?  Addressing themes of home, betrayal, mourning, parenting, jealousy, the need for communication, the death penalty, and the complicated ways in which we connect, this is a piercing family drama that spills out the shocks left and right. Manaster's style is compelling, and her story sparkles with tension. The Done Thing is not to be missed! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com

Lida Stearl prides herself on always knowing the most appropriate thing to do in any given situation, confidence that has served her well in building her career as an orthodontist, maintaining a happy marriage, and raising her young niece in the wake of a violent tragedy. But now she’s a widowed, retired, empty-nester and the small perfections of an orderly life are not quite enough to stop her from feeling adrift.

Then a well-intentioned birthday gift leads to the discovery that Clarence Lusk, on death row for the murder of Lida’s sister and preparing for his final appeal, is seeking pen-pals. Lida, furious, does not think he is entitled to any such consolations, and decides to teach him a lesson: she begins to write him, pretending to be naïve, twenty-three, and just the slightest bit flirtatious. As she accumulates details of Clarence’s life in prison and his connections outside it, her preoccupation with the crime and its echoes intensifies, unsettling those around her and jeopardizing her relationship with her beloved niece. When the date of Clarence’s clemency hearing is set and he begins to suspect there is something strange about his pen pal, Lida finds herself in danger of losing what little family remains to her.

In the tradition of such unforgettable characters as Olive Kittridge (Olive Kittridge by Elizabeth Strout) or Nora Eldridge in The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud, Lida is utterly memorable, sharp-edged and meddlesome, occasionally unpleasant, at times even venomous, but always deeply sympathetic and human.

"The Done Thing is a wonderfully engrossing novel — the unnerving and vividly-imagined tale of Lida Stearl, a charming widow who maintains her polite exterior although she’s quietly riven by grief and righteous fury. Tracy Manaster has written a novel that beguiles with its characters and its gripping story, but it also provides a rich investigation into what happens when we give space to our terrible little impulses, how these tiny monstrosities can grow and spread beyond our control." Peter Mountford, author of The Dismal Science and A Young Man’s Guide to Late Capitalism

"An intimate and emotionally-charged novel about a complex woman, haunted by her past losses, who becomes obsessed with making the last days of one man’s life as miserable as she possibly can. In her second book, Tracy Manaster writes with such care and empathy, as well as depth and detail, that readers will be eager to dive into Lida Stearl’s complicated life and discover for themselves how it all unravels." Valerie Geary, author of Crooked River

"Lida Stearl is many things: a widow, a parent, a retired orthodontist, a proper St. Louis lady of a certain age, and hell-bent on making her sister’s killer’s final days on earth as unpleasant as possible. What begins as one woman’s obsessive, secret quest for revenge unfolds into a skillfully written exploration of forgiveness, family, loyalty, and justice. Tracy Manaster’s caustic yet tender second novel is a masterpiece." Mo Daviau, author of Every Anxious Wave

Tracy Manaster is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She is the author of the novel You Could Be Home by Now. Tracy lives in Portland, OR, with her husband and twin daughters.

Six months out of my MFA program and 60-odd pages from completing my first-ever draft of my first-ever novel, I read (while — confession time — procrastinating on said novel) a glossy lifestyle piece on buying your second home first. I don’t remember the particular magazine, but I do recall irritation hitting me with all the subtlety of the magazine's perfume samples...

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